GEAR
REVIEW
Withings
Blood Pressure Monitor
Need accurate readings of your blood pressure from the comfort
fort
of your home? There’s an app (and monitor) for that.
With an increase in so called mobile health solutions, it is becoming
g
clear that the connectivity that cellular technology provides can help in
p
monitoring health and well-being. With a recent $30 million investment
ent
into its coffers, French connected health company, Withings, has
a range of health solutions available. The Withings Blood Pressure
Monitor is one such product, with others being a Smart Body Analyser
yser
that measure not only your weight but also body composition, heart
rt
rate and air quality.
Canon
PowerShot SX 270 HS
Despite the fact that many turn to their smartphones to snap a
quick shot, holding a solid, dedicated and feature-rich compact
camera in one’s hand for many is still unbeatable. Case in point
– the PowerShot SX 270 HS.
The big bene?t
With an accuracy
of ±3 mmHG or 2%
of the reading, the Blood
Pressure Monitor provides
an easy way for individuals to keep track of their heart rate. The benefits off the Withings are twofold. Firstly, it’s dead easy to setup and
works directly of an iPhone, iPad, or iPod, with measurements taking
place electronically via the cuff oscillometric method.
The process is easy and the app uses
graphs to show your blood pressure
trends over time.
Canon’s more recent entry into the PowerShot fold is certainly a pleasure to hold, and felt to us a bit like a much smaller DSLR in a way.
The reason for this is a couple of interesting design choices when it
comes to the controls. To start with, just beneath your thumb you can
find a reassuringly familiar mode dial. In practice, this makes switching
between aperture priority, shutter priority, full manual and other modes
highly accessible. This, quite literally, is a nice touch for photographers
who like wielding their basic controls for creative effect. Adding to the
tiny-DSLR feel is the small thumbwheel just beneath this mode dial,
which evoked fond allusions to the larger version found on bigger
DSLRs, and offered a familiar ease of use.
Onboard is Canon’s latest DIGIC 6
processor, which means that general operation
is as smooth as butter.
Users wrap the monitor around their arm, connect the Withings to their
device and start the app. Measurement is done with a little motor that
starts inflating the strap tied around one’s arm up until the pressure
sensor can take a reading. This process doesn’t take more than a few
minutes and is painless.
The second important part is what happens after measurement has
taken place. All readings are automatically captured on your device
and can be easily sent to a doctor via email through the app. It is also
saved online to be accessed via the web, while the app uses graphs
to show your blood pressure over time, making it easy to spot trends.
Readings in the morning and evening are also viewed separately. In
case more than one member of the family uses the monitor on the
same device, users can set up individual profiles not to get mixed up.
So much to like
To the point
To the point
With a retail price of R2 550 on http://store.orange.com the Withings
Blood Pressure Monitor is ce rtainly not cheap but also not a massive
investment if you need accurate readings and trends over time. [MJ]
The PowerShot SX 270 HS’ appeal and capability is undeniable, as
well as showing just how very far the category has come.
RRP: R2 800. [RN]
24
The 20x zoom offering may not get you as up close and personal as
the larger SX 50 HS’s 50x superzoom, but its 25-500mm 35 mm equivalent range is nothing to sniff at either. Additionally, Canon has seen
fit to stock the camera with its latest DIGIC 6 processor, which means
that general operation is as smooth as butter.
However, ultimately a camera lives and dies by its image quality, and
on this front, we weren’t at all surprised to find that it was excellent. We
were also particularly pleased to see how well the 3" LCD (460 k dot)
screen stood up to bright, even direct, sunlight. Also catching our eye
was the innovative Hybrid Auto mode, which records four seconds
preceding a shot, and then merges these clips into a ‘story’ of the day.
October 2013 | TechSmart